26 January 2021. Happy Republic Day to all Indians, myself included. It is snowing in Toronto this morning. I opened LinkedIn today with my morning coffee as it is the social media for hypocrites (again myself included). And two intellectuals (there are too many nowadays) were arguing about gender-bias, racism and inequality in underprivileged strata of our society.

Ms. Jane Doe was saying that “Giving a ‘woman’, ‘latino’ or ‘black’ an opportunity is not charity. It is fighting against discrimination.” And Mr. John Doe’s point was that being a woman, latino or black is not a qualification. Providing opportunities just on this basis would be wrong. A quota based on disadvantaged economic background was his way to go.

While reading this I could only feel more and more enraged. Did these two intellectuals or so called #LinkedIninfluencers ever face inequality themselves? Did they take time to talk to their company’s CEO or HR manager about their thoughts? I certainly don’t feel so. Instead, both wrote long posts on social media to create a storm and expected HR people and business owners to pay attention to it.

This is exactly why I felt the need to pen down my opinion. Yes, I am mad and yes, I didn’t want this to be my first blog. But I just couldn’t put my pen down today. Over the years, I have made very good friends in India, Canada and USA. I am going to share some anecdotes.

A woman friend of mine told me her contract was terminated 2 months early because her boss knew that she is not the primary source of income for her family. Just google pay inequality among men and women and you will find strong statistical figures to prove the abovesaid fact. Only 7 countries in the world provide one-year maternity leave to working women. Ladies, I would really like to hear your transition stories, before and after the so-called Mat-leave.

Another friend told me her job contract wasn’t renewed for the upcoming year because she got engaged. Her boss only stared at her big fat engagement ring and assumed she would want to be a mother soon.  Of Course, nothing was ever said. A colleague of mine was undergoing fertility treatments and her boss gave her a leave of absence. Reason her teammates weren’t particularly thrilled and thought that these treatments will somehow affect her working capabilities. Can anyone talk sense to these people?

Last but not the least, I have a close friend who felt the need to work again even though she and her husband are very well blessed financially. The husband loves and adores her, but she feels the need to earn her own money to spend the way she wants. Why do women need approval from parents, husbands and even kids to do anything they want to? Being a homemaker and raising kids should be a proud feeling, but we all fear judgement from our peers. We women tend to lose our individuality very easily. We try too hard to do something that is not our forte. We make mistakes, we fail at times and I guess it’s OK. I plan to raise my son with love and compassion. Compassion and respect for others is one thing which will help him in taking right kind of decisions in life.

Coming back to where I started. Do I know all these women, or I just made them up? I will leave it to your discretion. Rather than talking about HR policies and discrimination in the society, I plan to tweak these policies myself one day….

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